Fantasy basketball: Seven players set for big comeback seasons

Injuries are a part of sport. They are a part of fantasy basketball. One or two key injuries can really hurt your team.

But, when players get hurt and miss a lot of time, sometimes they can drift from our minds.

I’m going to look at seven players who were well below their best last season or didn’t play at all, due to injury, who may be players to keep an eye on in your Yahoo fantasy draft.

Kevin Durant

The last time we saw Durant play, it was the NBA Finals for the Golden State Warriors. He blew out his Achilles as that dynasty ended and now he is Brooklyn.

Durant ranked 12 that season, but a 32-year-old coming off an Achilles tear is a hard player to place that amount of trust into.

FANTASY BASKETBALL DRAFT RANKINGS: Where to draft your favourite NBA stars

NBA DRAFT: What the Hornets can expect from LaMelo Ball in 2021

The Nets will be cautious with minutes and back to backs and his ADP is pretty high, sitting at 14 at the moment.

I’m not sure I’d take that risk there, but Durant was elite and if anyone can push through the torn Achilles, it could be KD.

John Wall

We haven’t seen Wall play in an NBA game since Boxing Day 2018. That means it will be almost two years exactly when he finally plays this season.

Back in 18-19, Wall was the 22nd ranked player, but like Durant, Wall is over 30 and coming back from a torn Achilles.

Also like Durant, Wall will have his minutes monitored and will sit back to backs, but unlike Durant, you don’t need to spend a second-round pick on Wall.

Wall’s ADP is currently 43, and now that he has been dealt to the Rockets and has to share the ball with James Harden, I can’t see how he has value at that spot.

YAHOO FANTASY ADVICE: Five NBA stars you might want to avoid drafting

FANTASY ROOKIES: Who are the best NBA Fantasy rookies this year?

Blake Griffin

Are Blake Griffin’s knees cooked? Probably. Will he have minutes limits despite not wanting to talk about minutes limits with Dwane Casey?

Yes. But, Griffin can’t possibly be as bad as he was last season where he played just 28 minutes a night over 18 games and ranked 110th.

He couldn’t even hit 40% from the field and he broke his streak of being a 20 point per game scorer, which had lasted six seasons.

I expect Griffin to play more and to shoot better, but he isn’t ever reaching the heights of his prime.

His ADP is 78, which feels pretty solid and if he somehow can play 60 games, he probably beats that number. Don’t forget just how good Griffin was before the injuries took their toll.

Victor Oladipo

It took a while for Victor Oladipo to return last season and when he did, you were probably wishing he didn’t.

He ranked as just the 132nd best player on a per-game basis as he couldn’t get his minutes up or his shots to go down and struggled to adjust to the fact that he was no longer the number option on the team.

Hopefully, the last few months have allowed him to rest and a new coach, Nate Bjorkgren, can get through to him to be more judicious in his shot selection, but if Oladipo is playing 30+ minutes, he will beat last year’s numbers pretty comfortably after returning from his torn quad tendon.

Steph Curry

It was so disappointing to have Steph Curry play just five games last season. And in those games, he wasn’t the same, failing to shoot even remotely well and played limited minutes.

This season, it’s a different story. Without Klay Thompson, Steph is going to play a lot and I don’t think his shooting has just disappeared.

Now, he isn’t as good in a points league versus a category league, but Steph is a definite first-round player, despite barely playing last season.

Rodney Hood

Hood tore his Achilles on December 6th last year, so he is a year removed from that devastating injury.

He will be back and ready to go by opening night, but it looks as though he has lost his starting spot to newly signed Derrick Jones Jr. Hood will deal with lower minutes and back-to-back rests, so while his scoring and shooting off the bench can still be useful, his fantasy value is a little dubious.

If the Jones starting experiment doesn’t work, Hood could find his way back into the starting five and scoring solid fantasy points for your team off the waiver wire.

Dwight Powell

Like Hood, Durant, and Wall, Powell is returning from a torn Achilles tendon. He tore the Achilles on January 21st this year, but the latest news is that he will be ready opening night, and with Kristaps Porziņģis out, Powell is in line to begin the season as the starter.

It remains to be seen if the Mavs go back to the Powell-Porziņģis frontcourt given their offseason moves, but Powell has had a top 150 fantasy finish in the past and could be a nice short term add at the beginning of the season.